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Many Airbnb hosts don’t realize the potential booking opportunity that lies right in front of them – repeat guests. Attracting repeat bookings will not only boost income, but it will also drive personal recommendations to your rental.If you’re not sure how to get guests to return year after year, these five tips can help you out!

1. Create lasting relationships

Ever increasingly, we hear that what guests are looking for in an Airbnb is a “home away from home” feel. This starts from the very moment they eye up your property online and start to imagine a vacation spent there.As a host, you can go one step further than your competition and get to know your guests before, during and after their stay. Establish what’s important to them, find out their needs and anticipate any problems before they have chance to arise. Guests will love that you’ve taken the time to befriend them in this way – and this will bode well when it comes to returning down the line.

2. Make each experience count

This goes hand in hand with building relationships from the first interaction – creating memorable, positive guest experiences will also help encourage guests to come back. What personalized services can you offer which will make your rental stand out? Do you host weekly pizza parties? Free yoga classes? Whatever guests are into in your area, make sure you offer 5-star service at all times, and cater to each and every possible need.

3. Offer irresistible incentives

One of the most obvious ways to achieve repeat bookings for your Airbnb or vacation rental is by – you guessed it – offering discounts and other incentives. While some hosts prefer to offer a straight 5, 10 or even 20% discount for return visitors, others will provide complimentary services like a free spa visit or airport transfer, or welcome gifts such as a breakfast hamper or wine and cheese selection.Communicating these special extra touches to guests that you already have a great relationship with might just be the final push needed to persuade them into completing their booking!

4. Collect personal contact details

Just as you ask for an Airbnb review from every guest that checks out, you should also get into the habit of asking for their personal contact details, too. A cell phone number or email address go a long way when it comes to maintaining the relationship, long beyond the guest’s departure.With these details, you can easily build email or WhatsApp marketing campaigns to promote any special offers for return guests – keeping the communication personal, friendly and direct.

5. Encourage guests to book direct

There is no disputing that Airbnb is a great way for guests to find rental property – and for you to advertise your own! But when travelers have already paid the service fees for a home once, chances are they won’t look forward to paying it again. That’s where you come in.Increasingly, more and more vacation rental owners are diversifying their channels to stop relying solely on Airbnb and other listing sites for bookings. One of these big trends? Building professional vacation rental websites in order to achieve direct bookings.When you have your own website, you can direct returning guests there to complete their reservation – plus add any discounts, special offers and freebies you like at the point of purchase. Think of it as an online business card for your vacation. For travelers, it’s just as simple to use as Airbnb, but the main advantage for them is it doesn’t come with the extra price tag of service fees!So there you have our top five top tips for achieving repeat bookings for your Airbnb. What else do you do that makes guests return? Get in touch to let us know in the comments!Lodgify is an innovative, all-in-one vacation rental software that empowers owners and managers to create their own professional website and accept online bookings. With Lodgify’s tools, you’ll enjoy stress-free reservation management and synchronization of your booking channels – without any hassle.